


A Very Democratic Encounter

by lucidscreamer



Series: Sailing into Love [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 19th Century, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Camels - Freeform, Egypt, Gen, Humor, Male Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 22:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13086579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucidscreamer/pseuds/lucidscreamer
Summary: Joey was determined to have "the real Egyptian experience," which apparently meant that Joey had to ride a camel at least once while they were in Cairo. Which meant thatYugihad to ride a camel.





	A Very Democratic Encounter

　

Yugi stared into limpid brown eyes framed by ridiculously long, thick, and curling lashes -- and grimaced when said eyes stared back at him with an expression of unmistakable disdain.

Was he really going to go through with this? He glanced over at Joey, standing beside him and grinning like a hyena with a zebra carcass, and heaved a sigh of fond resignation. Apparently he was.

Joey was determined to have "the real Egyptian experience," which apparently meant that Joey had to ride a camel at least once while they were in Cairo. Which meant that _Yugi_ had to ride a camel, because Joey did not want Yugi to "miss out on the excitement."

Which meant that Yugi really was going to do this. He grimaced again and tried, without noticeable success, to summon up some excitement for the upcoming endeavor.

Woo-hoo.

He squinted at the camel again. It stared down its long nose at him.

 _Ugh_.

"All right," Yugi said, adding a little huff of determination to the end of the words.

Time to stop putting off the inevitable and to get things over with as painlessly as possible. Squaring his shoulders, he stepped up to the rug-and-tassel-be-draped animal. It was so dusty it appeared to have been badly taxidermied and left on the roadside for a fortnight (or possibly in a closet, as it also seemed a bit moth-eaten).

The camel sneered at him, somehow managing to give the impression of judging him with its nostrils.

No doubt it was planning to do something horrible, probably involving that mucus-y, nasty concoction camels manufactured in place of spit. Thanks to his grandfather's interest in treasure hunting, Yugi (who had spent a memorable winter accompanying him into the field), had been on the receiving end of ballistic camel spit on several occasions -- though once had been more than enough, thank you.

It was Yugi's considered opinion that camel spit would make a nigh indestructible mortar, capable of holding together the very pyramids. Heck, the Egyptians could have used it to glue the nose back on the Great Sphinx. The nasty stuff was certainly difficult enough to get out of one's _hair_ , an experience Yugi still shuddered to contemplate.

So, no. Yugi did not enjoy the company of camels and the prospect of riding one of the obstreperous beasts did not fill him with anticipation. He had a sinking feeling that this latest encounter was not going to improve the mutual animosity he "enjoyed" with the creatures, though it might put a damper on his warm feelings for one Joey Wheeler.

"Aw, c'mon, Yugi." As if reading Yugi's thoughts, Joey prodded him back into motion. "You'll love it."

"I can promise you that I won't," Yugi countered darkly. He glowered at the camel, noticing as he did so that the animal had begun to chew with intent, its eyes narrowing as if calculating trajectories. "Oh, no..."

Yugi ducked just in time, hearing a solid gooey "thuck!" as a wad of sticky cud smacked into Joey's chest, knocking a startled, " _Ewwaugh_!" out of him. Followed by a stream of language blue enough to make a stevedore blush, though Yugi was pretending not to notice.

"Come along, Joey," Yugi said, dusting the sand off his trouser knees and hiding his grin. "Let us return to the hotel so you can get cleaned up, and I will treat you to tea."

"Make it a brandy and you've got a deal," Joey said, scraping ineffectually at the mess on his chest. "Ugh. This is the foulest glop I've ever seen!"

He stalked away, muttering imprecations under his breath. Stifling his laughter, Yugi followed.

The camel watched them go, basking in the smug glow of a task well accomplished.

　

o0o

 

'Camels have a very democratic approach to the human race. They hate every member of it.' -- Terry Pratchett, _Pyramids_

　

　

　

　

　

**Author's Note:**

> Still clearing out my WIP folders.


End file.
